At night, the young mage lay in bed thinking for a long time. By the next day, she still had dark circles under her eyes.
She did not know why, but she did not hate the swarm.
Perhaps after the transformation, she really had become a part of them.
Just as Xia Jin said, under the will of the swarm, this race became incredibly pure.
There was no selfishness, only cooperation, completely following the Queen’s every command.
Everything was for the sake of leading the Zerg to the peak of the world, to exist eternally without enemies or pain.
Yes, insects are eternal.
After death, even their consciousness is reclaimed by the hive, to be born again as new life.
“Maybe... becoming such a being isn't bad.”
She did not realize that she was gradually transforming into a complete Zerg.
Even now, her sense of loyalty to the Zerg was greater than her loyalty to humans.
“My Queen, I am leaving now.”
Walking out of her room, she happened to see Xia Jin eating nearby and approached respectfully.
“Go,” Xia Jin said casually.
There was no need to speak to communicate; all Zerg were linked to her consciousness.
The young mage took her leave. Carrying her staff and escorted by Zerg, she left the forest.
...
Count Amelo's territory, a small town.
“Linya, you are finally back. Why are you the only one?” An adult man ran up anxiously.
“I am sorry, Mentor. We... encountered high tier magic beasts. They fought desperately to protect me so I could escape.”
The mage covered her mouth, tears falling from her eyes.
“What? Even the senior leading you? He died too?”
The mentor finally realized what had happened.
Even with a Tier 4 lead, the entire team had been wiped out.
Such cases of total annihilation were particularly common in this assessment. Of the 600 people who entered the forest, more than 60 did not come out.
“What happened in the forest? Why are there so many magic beasts above Tier 4?” one mentor asked with a frown.
Linya was silent for a moment before taking out a round crystal from her person.
“This is what we obtained together.”
When the mentor saw the object, his pupils shrank slightly.
“A Tier 5 magic core? You...”
“It was that Tier 5 magic beast that our senior could not hold out against. But by working together, we still managed to kill it. He could have escaped with me, but we were attacked by another Tier 4 magic beast on the way. To let me escape, he blocked the beast himself.”
Seeing the student's painful expression, the mentor sighed and comforted her, “Alright, you have already done very well.”
A team of one Tier 4 and three Tier 3 members killing a Tier 5 magic beast was an achievement that could no longer be described as merely good. It was practically like cheating.
But history did record instances where natural geniuses achieved such feats.
“I announce that everyone who made it out of the forest passes the assessment.”
After a discussion among the mentors, the vice principal leading the group announced the news.
However, not many people cheered.
The deaths were truly too tragic.
“I must report this to the kingdom. A large number of magic beasts above Tier 3 have appeared on the outskirts of the Border Forest. We need to restrict the entry of adventurers.” Linya’s mentor hurried toward the Adventurers Guild.
Linya sat alone not far away, saying nothing.
Not long after, a boy came to her side.
“Are you unhappy?” he asked in a low voice.
Linya shook her head.
The boy reached out, wanting to touch her, but Linya dodged him.
The boy fell silent.
The students and mentors stayed for a while longer before leaving the forest boundary and heading back to Star Rain Academy.
Through Linya's thoughts, Xia Jin learned quite a lot about this academy.
It was actually a mage training center directly under the kingdom.
The ratio of commoners to nobles was 9 to 1, making it a cradle for commoners to rise in the world.
Anyone with talent and a willingness to work hard had a chance to be directly recruited into the military as an official mage upon entering this academy.
It was worth noting that well known mages in the kingdom were mostly trained by the Mages Guild.
The mage lords people usually spoke of mostly came from the guild.
But few people knew that official mages were actually far stronger and higher in quality than those from the guild. The reason they were not famous was that they had very little contact with society, mostly serving the royal family.
Commoners might think the Mages Guild was invincible.
But those who truly understood the inner workings would never say something like, “If you cannot even get into the Mages Guild, what kind of powerful mage are you?”
The court mages were the core of the kingdom's mages.
In her memories as a princess, Xia Jin had seen countless mages, and not one was below Tier 4.
But in the Mages Guild, one could see a massive number of magic apprentices who had not even reached Tier 1.
Rate on N.U.
